“You were my safe place.”
When Person of Interest premiered five years ago, never did I expect it to become the show it is now. Never did I expect it to have such an in-depth understanding of its characters and all their complexities. Never did I expect it to deliver rich character studies like the one we see in “6,741”. And truly, that’s what “6,741” is: a fascinating exploration of Sameen Shaw, someone whose influence has still been felt ever since she went M.I.A., someone without whom Team Machine never really feels complete. In this episode, the weight of her storyline is palpable in every scene, her presence dredging up guilt and the pain of loss; even more important than that, though, is the love that’s brought forth. People care about her, and we feel that very clearly.
The scene I’d like to focus on in this review is the episode’s doozy: the deeply powerful scene at the end between Root and Shaw, both characters played brilliantly by Amy Acker and Sarah Shahi, respectively. “Somewhere in your sociopathic heart, you know we belong together,” Root tells Shaw as she looks down the barrel of a gun. And then, deeming the action to be the only thing she can control, Shaw points the gun at her head and pulls the trigger. It’s a heartbreaking scene in and of itself, and the fact that Shaw–who, let’s remember, has effectively been brainwashed–musters up the strength to kill herself instead of Root tells you all you need to know about that relationship.
What’s even more impactful, however, is the actual final scene of the episode: Greer ordering a minion to begin another simulation…number 6,741, to be exact. Seeing that preceding scene is already powerful enough on its own, but knowing the sheer number of times Shaw shoots herself instead of Root makes it all the more affecting. One can easily go the overt “I love you” route, but Person of Interest does it in its own wonderful way here, blending together the sci fi of the plot and the human emotion of the characters. This is an extremely well constructed hour of television, and it’s the high point of the final season thus far. Here’s hoping to even better episodes in the future.
GRADE: A-
OTHER THOUGHTS:
-Shaw+Bear > Shaw+Root. This is not a knock against Shaw and Root; it’s just a testament to the light that Bear brings to all of us.
-Throughout the episode, I expected that there might be a fake-out like the one we get at the end, but Shaw shooting Reese still shocked the hell out of me.
Photo credit: CBS, Person of Interest
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Hi PB!
Let me say that I was so happy to see Shaw again! I really miss the character!
It was a good episode, it has not been my favourite so far though this season that would be where the Machine tries to kill her team.
I have to say that I thought that Shaw was in a dream or simulation from the start. She kept having these fuzzy like someone was trying to tune a radio station episodes, she was fighting it though.
What made me think that she was in a simulation? Well how she escaped. AS IF Samaritan would not be watching her all the time so she would not be able to get away like she did. The boat being there, the Farsi speaking cabby and the fact that she did not pay but just got out, she was wearing boots when she got out of the cab, the size of the store she went into and that you could not see any of the customers faces and the fact that there were so few customers during that time of day. The fact that there was ONLY ONE SALES CLERK IN THE WHOLE SHOP!
The fact that Harold referred to Samaritan as a god, he would NEVER say that, only Root refers to the Machine and Samaritan as gods and Greer revers Samaritan as one as he worships and asks it what it wishes of him.
The fact that she shot Reese and that he turned his back on her, he would NEVER do that considering the state she was in, he would have stood beside her like he always does, the fact that Finch was not listening in when Shaw was talking to Root about killing John but Root’s only concern was for Shaw,(yes I know that they are supposed to be in love but Root looks at John as her team mate/ family so her reaction did not really ring true to me remember she insisted on staying with him in the warehouse with all the playstations to help kill the Samaritan lackeys old Root would have booked, to be honest that is not something that I buy because they never had any real romantic moments like Harold and Grace or even much to many’s chagrin like John and Joss, it has always been Root flirting and Shaw rebuffing, yes there was that kiss last season but that to me felt like an act of sacrifice and yes goodbye ( I still think that Shaw has more chemistry with the Chinese former gymnast/thief who wanted to save her daughter, the guy at the high school reunion and the bald master thief who asked her to run away with him and she thought about it for a bit but said no granted I was glad that Shaw was still deemed to be alive but I find that the idea that Shaw and Root get to have a happy romantic ending and the others do not a little annoying and forced.)
During the simulation Shaw acted like the Shaw we know, operating on herself, we have seen her do that three times before, being no nonsense in her approach, even rebuffing Root in the beginning, her happiness on seeing Bear, not giving up the location of the Subway and killing herself in the end. These are the Shaw that I know.
I will say it again if Root and Shaw get a happy ending and the others do not I will be annoyed.
I did like what Shaw said to Root even though it was a simulation it reminded me of what John said to Joss when they were trapped in the morgue, that was a real moment for me between them as a couple not the stylized sex scene, which I found out of place because we have NEVER seen that with any of the characters (but are not all sex scenes stylized?) but we get that now.
Poor Shaw she is sadly being broken down and I hope that she can withstand it I see her sacrificing herself in the end to be honest for the greater good but we shall see!
See you next episode! 🙂
P.S. PB this has nothing to do with POI but have you ever seen the cartoon We Bare Bears? If not I think that you should for there is a Polar Bear called Ice Bear on the show and sometimes he does watch tv and movies. 😉
It is really a charming cartoon with lots of heart.
Hey! Yeah, there were definitely big clues throughout the episode that foreshadowed that final reveal. What I like is that it didn’t seem like a cheap “it was all a dream” thing; it was handled very well.
I have never seen We Bare Bears, but I have heard of it! Maybe I’ll check it out. 🙂
Yes they respected the audience by not doing the “it was all a dream’ trope. 🙂
Oh and I think that you will like We Bare Bears, please give it a gander! 🙂 I love it!